@plewin
Behavioural ecologist interested in movement, navigation and collective behaviour, especially in birds | Postdoc in the Portugal Lab, Oxford, looking at visual guidance of flight in homing pigeons | DPhil on Manx shearwater navigation | BTO ringing trainer
ππWe have just uploaded a new pre-print where we decompose spatial, temporal and spatial-temporal variation in natural selection on reproductive traits for great tits and blue tits.
With Yimen Araya-Ajoy, @ellafcole.bsky.social and @sheldonbirds.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
πNew paper out in Behaviour doi.org/10.1163/1568539X-bja10356
π¦ Ambush behaviour is rarely reported among #seabirds. We observed that #MediterraneanShag might employ this strategy to seize fish schools. Our knowledge on seabird #foragingbehaviour is still lacking!
#ornithology
four panel figure with a bee on a forget-me-not flower upper left, ants finding their way upper right, migratory bird on the lower right and the logo of the special intestest group on animal navigation of the royal institute of navigation on the lower left. in the middle it is written "royal institute of navigation (RIN) - animal navigation group with the RIN logo"
12th RIN Conference on Animal Navigation - one of my favourites π§π¦ππ¦ππ - this time we tried a new format, inviting topical sessions to make sure we represent the wonderfully broad range of research in #animal #orientation and #navigation and are super excited about the lineup s.gwdg.de/EBROf7
@joewynnbirds.bsky.social did an excellent job on keeping all ducks in a row for the programme juggling and will surely live up to full potential in the legendary pub quiz and other evening highlights - stay tuned!
Decline in body mass in adult (left) and nestling great tits. In the nestling plot, the purple line represents all nestling and the green line those that recruited to the population as breeders. Their different slope suggest an increase in the strength of selection on nestling mass something confirmed in the MS by analysing the temporal trends in selection differentials (see link for further information)
We have published a new pre-print showing a decline in great tit adult and nestling mass of around 1 gram in 47 y. [rate of approx. -0.040 Hadanes] With @ellafcole.bsky.social, @devisatarkar.bsky.social, Sam. Crofts, @mcmahok.bsky.social & @sheldonbirds.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
I wrote an article for The Conversation about birds' often overlooked sense of smell. From vultures that detect gas leaks to citrus-scented seabirds - read more below:
Jacket design for Darwin and the Queer Origins of Life: A History of Sex and Science by Ross Brooks. It features a historic, drawn image of a gynandromorph gypsy moth, with distinctive female patterning on its left side and male on its right. Against a black background, the image and text (title and author's name) are brightly rendered in a spectrum of colours resonant of the Progress Pride Flag.
My first book, Darwin and the Queer Origins of Life, will be published by Yale University Press on 11 August (UK) and 8 September (US). Please help spread the word! π
UK: yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300... @yalebooks.bsky.social π³οΈβπππ΅
US: yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300... @yalepress.bsky.social π³οΈββ§οΈ ποΈπ¦
In theory, nature markets allow governments to attract more private investment and diversify funds that help restore nature. The reality is much more complicated.
New from Sophus zu Ermgassen @iccs.bsky.social in @uk.theconversation.com π
theconversation.com/how-to-make-...
Super honoured to have contributed to this paper, led by the brilliant Sophus zu Ermgassen! We use our experience evaluating nature markets from around the world and derive 5 'golden' rules for the design and implementation of markets that deliver scientifically-credible outcomes. π±
rdcu.be/eYFx8
π¨ PhD offer (please share)
Fascinated by bird migration and movement ecology? π¦π Join us at @vogelwarte.bsky.social to study annual cycle energetics with multi-sensor loggers in multiple species
Deadline: 20 Feb 2026
Starting: June 2026
Supervision: Martins Briedis & me
Info: tinyurl.com/2dbv9nzh
Had a fab time this week at Pop Group @popgroup2026.bsky.social and stoked to have won a prize for my poster on hybridisation in island birds! π§¬π¦ββ¬ποΈ #pgg59
Happy to share our new paper published in @cp-iscience.bsky.social We deployed 300+ multi-sensor loggers across 17 species to investigate how different species adapt their flight strategies when crossing deserts and marine areas during migration. tinyurl.com/2c8y8xvf #ornithology #birds
Last years field assistant holding a Manx Shearwater on the isle of Rum (under a towel), retrieving a GPS device after a bird has returned from a foraging trip!
We are looking to hire a Seabird Field Assistant for 2026 for our Manx Shearwater research project.
Please share this to anyone who'd like to get out in the field this summer and learn about biotelemetry, bird handling and research into animal behaviour.
drive.google.com/file/d/1SGZt...
I had a very enjoyable time at #ASABWinter2025 and was delighted to present a poster on my work on bird visual fields! Thanks to the organisers @asab-meetings.bsky.social for a sociable and useful few days.
PhD student @ghtrabin.bsky.social with his great poster at ASAB, all about avian visual fields! Along with @smthmpsn.bsky.social and @gayatrikumar.bsky.social, a great group of first year postgrads doing research in bird flight and vision. Give them a follow!
Helena, Joey and James holding poster prizes
Jolyon shaking Jonahβs hand
Congratulations to #ASABWinter2025 best talk winner Jonah Walker (βMultimodal signalling and mate choice across peacock spider speciesβ) and poster winners Helena Norman, Joey Baxter and James Robertshaw ππ¨π
Dozens of people standing in the auditorium
Innes in a camo Kilt
And an especial congrats to Innes on his retirement! Jolyon had everyone stand up who worked with or had been taught by Innes - it was very touching π₯Ί So many standing! #ASABWinter2025
The runner-ups of the 2025 JAB review award: Natasha Gillies and Katrina Siddiqi-Davies.
π Congratulations to @tashgillies.bsky.social and @katrina-siddiqi.bsky.social, the runner-ups of the 2025 JAB review award! π
Runner-up article: vist.ly/4ir7q
#ornithology #birds #award # review #samesexpartnerships #evolution
Ines in front of a slide reading βAnimal Camouflage: evolutionary biology meets neuroscience, art and warβ with a chameleon
Ines in a camo Kilt in front of the podium
Starting with a public lecture by Innes Cuthill on camouflageβ¦ not only did he come dressed in camo, but a camo kilt π΄σ §σ ’σ ³σ £σ ΄σ Ώ ! #ASABWinter2025
New paper out today in Ecology and Evolution! Link below. Congrats PhD student @smthmpsn.bsky.social, on your first paper. All about how wild birds learn to avoid a novel aposematic warning signal. And a nice nod to Britney Spears in the paper title.
We are happy to announce that registration for ISBE2026 is now open! We encourage you to register as soon as possible to take advantage of reduced fees and to plan your trip and accommodation in advance.
Please read the information on www.isbe2026.com before proceeding with your registration.
We are delighted to announce our upcoming LGBTQ+ seminar given by Dr Ross Brooks who will be talking about his upcoming book, Darwin and the Queer Origins of Life! 2nd December @ 4pm in the Life and Mind Building, open to all members of Oxford university π₯³π³οΈβππ³οΈββ§οΈ
@rossb-brighton.bsky.social #QueerBiology
π¦ Ecology of Animal Migration course in Lund π¦ββ¬
I got the chance to join this inspiring PhD course at @biologylu.bsky.social. It was very well organized with fascinating lectures, a birdful excursion to Falsterbo and fantastic people doing fantastic research! #ecology #animalmigration
Much enjoyed learning about how to study bird migration with radar whilst on the roof of Lund University. youtu.be/0sB5On1gLsg?...
We had a new paper out yesterday in @royalsocietypublishing.org Biology Letters. About how the cranial feathers of male Golden and Lady Amherstβs Pheasants affect their visual fields. Nice to see it picked up The New York Times and Science. Paper link below.
Our New Paper is out in Nature Human Behaviour: π¨ Culture is critical in driving orangutan diet development past individual potentials! 𦧠www.nature.com/articles/s41.... See π§΅
Early-career ornithologists take note!! The next EOU Fledglings meeting will take place in Gdansk in March 2026. Please RT! #ornithology
Great tit
New paper out, the last one from my PhD π! Age shapes behaviour, survival, and reproduction. By using longterm great tit data, we ask whether age covaries with territory quality, and if territories show spatial age structure over time: tinyurl.com/ya2xp3zc
The lighthouse at Falsterbo.
A long eared owl in the hand.
A long-tailed tit (with pure white head).
A flock of migrating red kites with one black kite tagging along.
Fantastic day trip to Falsterbo as part of the animal migration course here in Lund. Glossy ibis, rough-legged buzzard, waxwings, black kite, great grey shrike and twite amidst hundreds of finches, thrushes and wood pigeons overhead.
Weβre looking for an enthusiastic #PhD candidate to explore the resilience of sea turtle populations in a changing climate, supervised by Leo Clarke and myself. Interested in sea #turtles, #marine #biology, #conservation & #fieldwork in Cape Verde. Funded by ACCE+ NERC DLA tinyurl.com/dm573yrm